Making Room
Choosing depth over constant output. I'll see you in mid-September!
Hiiiiii!!! (insert hug here)
I hope you’re having a GREAT Monday! We are on the way back from Texas (literally as I write this I can see big, billowy clouds and all the houses look like tinnyyyyy monopoly houses below us) and it was such a special trip. It was approximately 4,894,839 degrees outside (I know I used “approximately” more accurately than “literally” this time...growth 😂).
We wrapped up our time with the Forrest Frank concert, and I honestly still don’t have words for it. Watching Sledge worship Jesus in an arena full of people lifting high the name of our MIGHTY God is a memory I’ll carry for the rest of my life. It felt like a glimpse of Heaven. I’ll tell you more about that soon because it deserves it’s own air time.
Anyway, today, I wanted to write a different kind of note/update.
If you’ve noticed it’s been a little quieter around here the past two weeks, there’s a reason.
I’m going to be pressing pause on The Living Room for just a few weeks!
First things first: if you’re a paid subscriber, I’ve already paused all subscriptions and charges, so you won’t be billed again until I return in mid-September. I never want anyone paying for something they aren’t receiving, and I wanted to make sure I did this the right way.
More importantly, I want every post you receive to feel worth opening.
There are so many voices competing for our attention every single day. The fact that you choose to spend a few minutes here with me is something I’ll never take lightly. I want what lands in your inbox to be prayed through, lived a little, wrestled with, and worth your time—not simply written because the calendar says it’s time to post.
If you’ve followed me for very long, you’ve probably heard me talk about having too many tabs open. It’s one of my favorite ways to describe what life can feel like when your mind is carrying a hundred different things at once.
The funny thing is...I’m pretty good at talking about open tabs.
I’m just not always as good at closing them.
Lately I’ve realized I’ve had a lot of long-form content streams open all at once. Almost every day I’m writing for social media, planning podcast episodes, working on future projects (which I cannot wait to tell you about!), writing emails, creating new resources, preparing messages for when I preach, and finishing everything surrounding a new book that releases this November. All while not having the most normal schedule and traveling with Sledge, etc.
Please hear me when I say this:
1. ) What an unbelievable privilege it is to write about Jesus.
Then to think that you would take your precious time to actually read something I’ve written? It genuinely humbles me. I don’t ever want to lose the wonder of that.
And because I care so deeply about stewarding that privilege well, I don’t want to create simply because there’s another deadline to meet or another post to publish.
I want to write from overflow, not obligation.
It’s a little like cooking— hang with me on this for a second.
Could I technically throw ingredients together at the last minute and still make dinner? Sure.
Would people eat it? Probably.
But everyone knows there’s something different about a meal that’s been given time to marinate. Time changes it. The flavors stop sitting beside each other and begin becoming part of each other. It’s richer. Deeper. More nourishing.
I want my writing to feel like that.
Not rushed because an algorithm expects it. Not finished before it’s actually ready. Not published just because it’s “time.”
I know everyone has their own version of “I have a lot going on” so I don’t think I am special in this regard. I drive myself crazy when I say the phrase honestly. Like, I know everyone wants to respond and say, “Join the club, Cleere.” However, I know it’s important to allow a little breathing room so I can keep what matters most as priority (Jesus, my family, etc.) and provide a little time as I prepare STRONG content come September and through the holidays.
And lastly:
You will want to be around come mid-September! Lots of new things on the horizon and I can’t wait to share them with you guys! Also, it’s already August 3rd so that is basically— tomorrow.
So— maybe you need permission to close a tab or two yourself? Even for a few weeks— or months— or permanently. I just wanted to encourage you to do whatever you need to do to put first things first. God ALWAYS honors that!
Off to marinate and work through some content with Jesus while allowing my heart and spirit to receive it and drink before sharing :)
Thank you for caring more about depth than volume.
Thank you for making this little corner of the internet feel so much more like a living room than a content machine.
I love you all so much. I really do! Hope you feel it!
See you SOON!!!
Cleere